Coast Guard searches for medical jet missing near Nantucket

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching off Nantucket for a medical jet carrying six people that lost contact with air traffic controllers early Saturday while flying from Bermuda to Boston. The Gulfstream G100 did not arrive at Boston Logan International Airport as scheduled.

Air and surface crews are taking part in the search, the Coast Guard said. The Federal Aviation Administration said it issued a search-and-rescue notice for the jet at 1:20 a.m. Eastern time and is coordinating with the Coast Guard and a Rescue Coordination Center to locate it. CBS News reported that the FAA lost contact with the plane around 1 a.m. local time.

The aircraft was conducting a medical evacuation in Bermuda, Clarence Togeretz, director of flight operations at Latitude Air Ambulance, which operates the jet, told NBC News. The people on board have not been identified in the reports.

“We always get rather concerned when our crew doesn’t report to us in a timely manner,” Togeretz said. “But I will say that again, optimistically and positively, that doesn’t mean that the worst has happened.”

He said Latitude Air Ambulance has an emergency response plan in place “absolutely for anything that might occur to any of our missions.”

According to CBS News, FlightAware data showed the plane taking off from Bermuda at about 11:40 p.m. Eastern time Friday. It went missing after about one hour and 45 minutes in the air. The flight-tracking data showed it dropping quickly from roughly 24,000 feet to 11,000 feet before contact was lost, CBS reported. The plane had been scheduled to land at Logan at about 1:30 a.m. local time.

NBC News reported that audio it obtained from Boston air traffic control appeared to capture controllers asking the jet whether it was “coming in blind.” Controllers later asked another aircraft to “attempt contact” with the jet. It was unclear whether that attempt succeeded.

The Coast Guard’s Northeast District said the search area was off the coast of Nantucket. Emergency services audio obtained by NBC News asked vessels to keep a “sharp lookout” for signs of a “possible aircraft in the water.” NBC also reported that Flightradar24 data showed several aircraft searching south of the island. Authorities have not said what happened to the jet.

The Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Logan, confirmed that the aircraft had not arrived. “Our thoughts are with those on board and their loved ones as the search continues,” a spokesperson said.